Tuesday 27th May 2008, Day 1.
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| Sunset |
It
has been precisely 2 years since I last travelled by plane and the first time I
have travelled without Jo and Ally (my sisters). This morning, I woke up about 8 o’clock but
decided to go back to sleep as I knew I had a long day ahead of me. Then about
11 o’clock I got up and I went onto the Internet for the last time before I jetted off. After eating some rice with preserved sausages for lunch, I went to
tidy my room as it was in a state after trying to pack. There was still time to
kill so I played with the turtles and even played a piano game with Jo. About
3.20pm, we loaded the luggage into Jo’s car and were getting to leave at 4pm.
We gathered anything we needed into our hand luggage and off we all went to
the airport. Even though I was going on holiday, it didn’t really feel real,
not just yet anyway. We got to the airport and to my surprise the whole layout
of Heathrow had changed but it wasn’t too hard to navigate around the airport.
A short while later, we checked-in, said our goodbyes to Jo and Ally and
departed our separate ways. We had to go through security like usual, but this
time we had to take our shoes off! Which was rather funny. Then as we passed
the area where they check your hand luggage, mum’s bag had to be taken aside
for inspection! Mum was mumbling to herself “how silly, I don’t have anything;
there’s nothing in my bag”. The lady finally finished checking it through and
off we went into duty free. We brought loads of gifts such as alcohol,
chocolate and biscuits for the relatives in Hong Kong/China and also I got the
perfumes that were requested by Jo and Ally. We passed a little stall in the
Duty Free area and they were giving out some free sample of alcohol so we all
took a cup and drank it! Not long after, I could feel my face go red! As a
result of this heavy shopping in Duty Free, we had to go and buy another hand luggage
bag! Before we looked for a bag we sat down and shared a pizza between us. Once
we had finished, with luck, we found a foldable hand luggage bag in Boots so we
bought it and put everything from Duty Free into it! Then it was nearly time
for boarding but of course we had to stop at the toilets!
Once the parents had finished with the toilet we went to the boarding gate;
once the gates opened we entered in systematically where the end-seated people
would enter first. Our seats were ok, not the best in my opinion as it was
close to the toilet. We boarded and got comfortable, I quickly rang Jo to see
whether they had headed home, but they said there was loads of traffic! About
10-15 minutes being seated, the plane started to move and off we went… the sky
was setting and the streaks of red where radiating off the clouds, it was an
amazing sight. Not long after, dinner was served; I chose a Chicken dish and had
a delicious Banoffee pie. I watched many films and listened to some music but
for the first time I was extremely bored on a plane mainly because I had no one
to talk to and no one to discuss the movies with. It felt weird.
Wednesday 28th May 2008, Day 2.
After about 12 hours, we had entered the
world of Hong Kong. We checked out and waited for out luggage, to find that it
was on the floor on the other side of the conveyer belt! Luckily, we walked
around. My “Goo Jer” was waiting for us and we walked outside to catch a Taxi. As
soon as I walked out of the airport, I could smell the Hong Kong Smell and the
humid weather hit me. We arrived at “Sok Por’s” house and Goo Jer’s daughter
was taking her nap, she’s really funny and wanted to copy everything I did! About
7pm, we decided to go out to eat dinner. Both of the Goo Jer’s and their
children were there, along with Sok Gong and Sok Por. The food was lovely!
Afterwards, we went to my grandma's house and sat for a while, dad then left with
Sok Por and Sok Gong. I spoke to on the phone with Jo and Ally, which was
rather odd. I took a shower and slept. I was exhausted.
Thursday 29th May 2008, Day 3.
I didn’t sleep very well last night! I’m
not sure why but maybe because of the time difference. My mum and I made our way
to Sok Por’s house about 8 because we both were awake extremely early! As a
result, we got to Sok Por’s house and they were still sleeping! When they got
ready, we made our way to the Chinese Restaurant by their house and ate
breakfast. Once we had finished we made our way to the Visa Office which was at
Wan Chai Station and boy, was it a long journey! To make matters worst it was
raining heavily! The Visa place was a nightmare also, but eventually we got
that sorted after phoning Jo at 4am London time and asking her to email dad’s
old passport page! Not to mention we had to go to Goo Jer’s house, which was at
Wong Tai Sin Station to print it off before making a second trip back to Visa
Office. That journey was also another detour and a half! Once the Visa’s were
sorted we went to exchange some money and by the end of all this it was about
5/6pm. I was shattered and as we got back to Sok Por’s house, I took a much
needed 3hour nap. We ate dinner and mum and I left for Por Por’s house.
Friday 30th May 2008, Day 4.
Yet again, it was raining heavily but I had
the best sleep and could have slept for longer! I guess I was worn out after
yesterday’s travelling and waiting around. Dad had arranged to meet with his
cousin and so me and mum had to go to Sok Por’s house slightly early. We when
to the restaurant dad planned to meet his cousin and sat and waited. I was
freezing due to the strong air conditioning breeze! After a while, dad’s cousin
arrived, we ate and then headed to the bank straight after. They sorted out
what they had to, while I stood about and waited. Sok Gong, dad, mum and I went
to Causeway Bay Station for some shopping and to kill some time before we had
to go to collect our Visa’s. We went to Times Square first, the 9 floors of
shops but was highly expensive so we decided to go across the block to Sogo,
the 10 floors of shops. We found that Sogo was as expensive as Times Square but
still walked about. By luck, I found a remote Ferrari car and brought it as
soon as! We then strolled to the ladies market, which was near by, and then dad
suggested we walk to the Visa Office as it was ‘close’ but it was. We ended up
taking about 30 minutes! But it was a nice walk, I suppose. After collecting
the Visa’s, we went to Mong Kok for some more shopping but started to rain
again! We stopped by the electronic stores and other indoor shops for a quick
peek but everyone started to become restless so we went home. As we got to Sok
Por’s house, Goo Jer’s daughter was there, I gave her the big Hello Kitty toy I
brought for her earlier and played with her until dinner was ready. Not long
after, dinner was served. It was absolutely delicious. We headed back to Por
Por’s house around half 11. Mum and Dad wanted to go to China tomorrow but they
were so indecisive of whether to go to Guangzhou first or to go straight to the
village. I was getting annoyed at their indecisiveness and their difference in
opinion. They ended up deciding to go to the Village first at 2am.
Saturday 31st May 2008, Day 5.
I couldn’t quite believe it was Day 5
already! We headed to the village via coach that took about 3 hours! So this
morning, I had to pack everything I needed and had to wake up rather early to
do so as I didn’t even finish packing everything last night. Half way through the
coach ride, we had to go through customs luckily everything went smoothly. It
started to rain extremely heavily, so heavy that the water outside had splashed
as high or even higher than the coach window. Every other car drove with the
emergency lights. After about 3/4-hour journey we arrived, we stood in the rain
waiting for Sok Por to call the van to pick us up. Ten minutes or so, it
arrived. With the luggage’s we got on and stopped at the restaurant we were
going to eat at and our great uncle, Thomas was already there. He introduced
himself with his witty voice, “hi I’m your great uncle” which reminded me of
the last time we met him. When everyone arrived, the adults started to order
food; Thomas explained a few delicacies and ordered water cockroaches!
Initially, I was apprehensive of trying it but by the end of the night I
managed to taste a strand of its body! I wasn’t brave enough to suck the life
out of it, apparently the way you eat it! After dinner, we headed to the
village and everyone decided that it was best to shower at Sok Por’s village
house and then all slept over at dad’s house. We also had late snacks before
going to bed. It was a fun but tiring day.
Sunday 1st June 2008, Day 6.
I managed to sleep ok. We went to eat at a
restaurant for breakfast without Sok Por as she was preparing for Bi Sun. The
restaurant was rather dirty, as expected and just felt quite uncomfortable.
Afterwards, we went into “town” the market place to walk around where we
brought a few things for a great price! Following this, we went back to the
village and walked about there, but mum had a headache so we made our way back
to the house. Soon after, it was time to Bi Sun, and Um Por came and helped us
with the Bi Sun. I sat and watched as they proceeded. We then went to Sok Por’s
houto eat with some of the other villagers. The food was delicious as usual
and wasn’t as fun but I still enjoyed visiting the village. Reaching about
3/4o’clock Sok Por decided to come with us to Guangzhou but mum kept insisting
that she didn’t need to, but Sok Por and Sok Gong both came along with us. So
we all got on a coach to Guangzhou the journey was about 1hour 40 minutes but
it arrived slightly earlier than expected. As we arrived, Cou Fu was already
waiting for us but didn’t drive his Taxi. Sok Gong and Sok Por came up with us
to their house and sat a while. Everyone decided that we should have dinner
outside but Sok Por and Sok Gong had already told their relatives they would
stay for dinner at theirs so they didn’t come. Cou Fu and Mum took them to
their place while, Dad, Com Mow, Cousin and I went to the restaurant first.
About half an hour later, the other 2 joined us. We went back to Cou Fu’s house
and Cousin had to pack to go back to uni! But before she left, she had told me
how to use the Internet and told me I could use it when she wasn’t here. When
she left, I logged on and Ally and Jo was online! It was weird but funny. I
also took a look at things to do in Guangzhou as the parents asked me to do but
there was nothing much. It was then time for bed. I was content.
Monday 2nd June 2008, Day 7.
One week into the holiday so far, and it
has only been the past few days that was actually productive. The begun at 7am
when I was rudely awaken by a thumping noise on the door. We trekked to the
hospital so mum and dad could do their body check so we had to be there early.
Once done, we went to Bi Gong Gong at Wong Tai Sin and then went to eat at a
nearly restaurant. The variety of food wasn’t great but I ate enough. Next we
went to what was planned, which was Dr Sun Yat-Sen’s Memorial Hall. We crossed
the road and then went into Guangzhou Yue Xiu Park. IT seemed to be a billion
stairs to the top! I ran up them in slippers while the parents were taking them
time, but it was rather sunny which I loved. Following the park path, we went
to the ‘5 Ram’ place. There was more stairs! My legs were really exhausted at
the point! We got a Taxi back, but Cou Fu had taken the train due to the 4
people per Taxi rule. Before we went up to the house, we went to the bread shop
and brought some bread. It was delicious and we ate it along with a coffee.
Luckily, it was raining heavily once we had got back and not during our
exploring. We sat about and chilled until it was dinnertime. We ate porridge
and then off to bed I went. Draining legs.
Tuesday 3rd June 2008, Day 8.
I woke up at 10.30am and I stayed in the
room just using the Internet. We went to the market and the library to look at
some books mum wanted to purchase, I managed to buy some final fantasy
stickers! I was satisfied! We also went to the travel agents to check out the
short holidays but once again mum and dad couldn’t decide on where to go. It
was weather was poor and we had hot pot for dinner. The rest of the night, we
spent watching TV and chilling.
Wednesday 4th June 2008, Day 9.
This morning I woke up at 10.30am again, we
had porridge for breakfast and we headed off to the fish market. We manage to
buy some stones so we could engrave our names in it for $30! Where they
originally said it was $250! We also went to the tealeaves market where we
brought tealeaves! Afterwards, we went home and ate bread and cake it was
delicious! For dinner, we went to the restaurant we went to last time where we
had ice cream. Also, mum and dad finally agreed to book a mini holiday to
Beijing for 5days! I wasn’t sure what it I was in for, but hoped it would be
fun!
Thursday 5th June 2008, Day 10.
We ate breakfast at a close by restaurant
followed by a trip to the bank to exchange some money. We then went to the Six Banyan Tree Temple
& Flower Pagoda (Liurong Temple). It had 9 floors, but only
dad and I trekked all the way up to the top! After, while we was going home, we
passed a Sushi place and Uncle, Mum and I went to eat in it because Dad and
‘Cum mow’ didn’t feel like it so they carried on and went home. It was
appetising. We also collected our stones with our names engraved in it and
stopped at McD’s to buy pies! There was a bigger variety than in London! We
went home and munched on the pies and chilled out until dinner was ready.
Friday 6th June 2008, Day 11.
Today, nothing was planned. We stayed at
home and didn’t nothing. It was raining heavily outside, which was good since I
was tired and aching from walking up that temple! At 5.30pm we went across the
road to a restaurant to eat dinner. When we came back, we packed for Beijing as
we were leaving at 4/5am.
Saturday 7th June 2008, Day 12.
Yesterday, I begun to really get bored of
Guangzhou, but as we arrived in Beijing, I didn’t feel much different. So we
woke up at 4.50am and uncle drove us to the airport. The sky was still dark and
it felt like winter in London! I felt quite excited at the time. We arrived at
the airport and found our tour guide but the process wasn’t very systematic.
Eventually, we managed to board on the plane with the rest of the tour mates.
We went to some park place and some pottery place before settling into our
hotel room. It was weird but lucky the rest of our tour mates didn’t just speak
mandarin! There was also an American family, which was good for mum as she made
a friend with the mum of that family. When we arrived in our hotel room, we
went down to eat dinner but it was not tasteful! So afterwards, mum, dad and I
went to the local shop to stock up on snacks! We also had to buy some shoes for
me as we was told the place we was going to go tomorrow do not allow slippers!
And my trainers were left in Hong Kong! Beijing was different from what I
expected.
Sunday 8th June 2008, Day 13
Today my legs are proper f’cked. Because youre not allowed
slippers into the Chairman Mo memorial place yesterday when we went to buy
snacks I bought some fake kappa’s and tolday my legs are fucked. I woke up
nicely at 6 and morning call was at 6.30 but I woke up in time and we got ready
and everything. It was nice and sunny!! Breakfast was discgusting!! Which was
at 7.30 and by 8 we got on the coach to our first destination which was the
forbidden city and the palace museum. It was long! Damn it was massive and it
meant we had to do a lot of walking . My feet were tired! We went to Chairman
Mo where they have his dead body on show. It looked plastic to me. Lunch wasn’t
served until 12. We had some lunch at some restruant which was quiet alright
probably because everyone was hungry. After 4 hours of walking anyone would be
in addition to the intense heat! We then went to do some shopping! It was go
your own way from about 4 to 6.15pm/ We bought quite a bit of stuff and I was
getting quite pissed off because my dad wanted to go the, as directly
translated, greedy street and my lets were already dead and all he wanted to do
was look. It was 5 by then and we still hadn’t eaten! But we went to McDs and I
ate a fish burger meal. It wasn’t that nice and it was a small partition
compared to the usual. We then trekked back to the greedy street and ate some
sugar coated fruit. It was quite funny. After we walked back to the coach. The
tour guide gave us an option to either go back to the hotel or we could go
watch some flying areobactics. The marjority voted for the flying areobactics
so that is what we did. It was brilliant despite the falling over and the
mistakes but my dad thught it was shit. We arrived back at the hotel at 9.30pm
and I went to take a shower and I went to get ready for bed as tomorrow was the
great wall of china. I was very excited!!! Must rest my feet.
Monday 9th June 2008, Day 14
Today we was going to the great wall of china and I was
rather excited. I woke up at 6.15am and ate the nasty breakfast but I was
starving. To my surprise, we went to the 13 ming tomb place first which was
rather boring and pointless and then we stopped at the jade factory and we
bought a few goods from there. We then went to some supermarket for snacks and
mum’s twin (who was just another passagner in our tour group that just reminded
me of my mum and we joked about this throughout the trip) bought 8 whole ducks!
This was followed by lunch which was at a nicer place. We was full and so we
got back on the coach and headed to the great wall! It was absolutely great fun
and I didn’t plan to go all the way but I saw an old man with a medal and I
immediately wanted one. This became my motivation. I trekked on with a tour
friend and so did my dad until he stopped because he got tired. I ended up
going and followed the road. I knew my mum may have been a little worried but
every step I took, I thought I might have reached the top for a medal and then
I could have turned around but every time that was not the case. No medal was
seen so I carried on going. Eventually we walked right to the end where it was
a dead end and we walked back to the start. The heat was blazing and the views
from the top was amazing. There was some steep areas and at some points I thought
I might have slipped and died but it was so fun! I had no idea what the time
was or anything, I was just with this tour person separated from everyone else.
When we got down and was by the coach, everyone else slowly came. My dad walked
towards me first and he said ‘you are in big trouble with mum’. When my mum
approached me she shouted at me for going off and was so worried she was about
to cry and she was just shouting at me. Everyone else started to feel a little worried
too. We all got on the coach and things were still going on but it did calm
down. I started to feel dizzy, not good! We stopped at a medicine factory and
mum got sucked in and bought more stuff! We got back on the coach again and
this time I was feeling absolutely bad. Sicknes! We stopped for dinner but I felt
like throwing up so I decided to go to the toilet to throw up! And I did. Lol!
I felt much better but didn’t feel like eating. I think developed a fever! We headed
back to the hotel and asap I took 2 parcetamols. A short while later I was
starving. I decided to snack on kola bears biscuits. There were two others on
the tour who was also feeling really ill. The camera man bought some pictures
and said we should buy them. They were SLR pictures and he had made a DVD too.
We ended up buying it.
Tuesday 10th June 2008, Day 15
Today I woke up feeling no strain at all. I watned to sleep
for longer. Last night I went to bed around 11.30pm and got up at 7am. Breakfast was served a little
later today. We first went to the Blue Zoo place where we saw many fish and
bought goods! It was amazing and we saw turtles too! Then we walked back ot the
coach and went to see this biding where a fung shi man was there and explaining
some stuff. It was interesting but things they were trying to sell was far to
expensive. We then had lumch at some hotel, we think it was a 5* hotel and it
was delicious. After lunch we went to another one of them type of places and it
was alright, just the usual walking around. My head started to poind and I had
some pop corn for 5RMB. IT was cool. Everyone was comapling about aching legs!
Mine only hurt when I walked down stairs. We eventurally went back to the hotel
for dinner at 5.30. It was yummy! We chilled and packed as tomorrow was the
last ay in Beigjiing. Even though these 5 days I dreaded at the beginning, I
actually had such a good time!
Wednesday 11th June 2008, Day 16
Today was the last day in Beijing and on the plane I was
listening to some music. This morning breakfast was served at 8am, I woke up
about 7am and had an early night as I barely slept the night before. We went to
some place called Tiantan. It was really cool. At 11am everyone checked out and
we handed our hotel cards back and out we went. The coach and the tour guide
was outside and everyone came out and loaded our luggage into the coach. Off we
went to eat! Even though it was 3 hours ago we had eaten. We went to the place
where I threw up to eat and even though I wasn’t hungry, I managed to eat quite
a lot. At about 12, we left the restaurant. The sun was blazing it was amazing!
After we had a bit of free roaming time until 3pm but everyone had finished
roaming and off we went to the airport. There was some traffic along the way so
I took a nap. It was about 5 something, we arrived at the airport, the coach
driver said bye while the tour guide lead us into the airport. He checked us in
and said our byes. As we got into the boarding area, it was 5.30pm, the
boarding time was at 6.45 and the flight was at 7.15pm. My mum and I roamed the
airport for a while and we all sat together and chatted away. It felt quite
sad, the group had gotten quite tight and we all had a good laugh together.
This was a good choice. As soon as the gates opened we all went in and found
our seats. We had some food on the plane and I chilled after. It was estimated
that we would arrive about 10.05 and my uncle said he will pick us up from the
airport. Everyone went to sleep. We left the plan and arrived at 10. We
collected our luggages and departed our separated ways to our fellow tour
mates. Before we went back home, we went out for dinner.
Thursday 12th June 2008, Day 17
Today I woke up at 7.30am to pack up. We ate and then left
for the train. We had to wait an hour for our train. We sat upstairs and I took
a nap. We ate and even though I wasn’t that hungry! I did some youtubing and
then off I went to sleep.
Friday 13th June 2008, Day 18
Woke up at 8.30 ate porridge and some noodles then off we
went to do some shopping at the APM. It was cool. My aunt started to feel sick
so my uncle and her went home first while we roamed around Mong Kok to look
around.
Saturday 14th June 2008, Day 19
This morning, we ate porridge again. My aunt and uncle was
ready to leave for Guangzhou. They planned to leave the 10.30am bus. We
finsiedh eating and dropped them off to the bus stop. We said our goodbyes and
then left for the jewellery shop. My mum bought 3 pendants a total cost of
4500dollars which is about £100 each, a relatively good deal. It was cool, then
my mum and I went around to my dad’s brothers house to meet my dad. We went off
to Sha Tin for some shopping and bought a few pieces. We then headed back to
their house and my dads nieces’ daughter was there so I played with her for a
bit and then used the net. It was time for dinner and we went ot Hollywood
Plaza which was in Diamond Hill, a restaurant that was rather busy because it
was fathers day. But luckily we had booked a table and they knew the manager.
We ate and I really enjoyed myself. We headed home and I saw a little kitten
outside the block crying. My heart was so sad for it and I had no food or
anything I couldn’t help it! We started up late to pack ntil around 1.10 am and
then went to bed.
Sunday 15th June 2008, Day 20
The official last day of my holidays and I thought it was
unbareable but I have really enjoyed it. I loved the experience and yes I may
have been bored at times but I had a great time. This morning, we left to eat
out and then did one last bit of shopping. I bought my sister some things. We
said our goodbyes and my mum and I left to go back to my grandmas. On the way
we stopped at the cake shop and bought a mango and chestnut cake for fathers
day. On the way home, we rang and knocked on her door but no one answered. We
waited outside for a while before trying again. It turned out that my grandma
was in the kitchen with her radio on so she couldn’t hear the door. We ate the
mango cake , showered and I took a nap. We then gathered our stuff and said
goodbye to my grandma. We got into the taxi and my grandma wanted to cry. I didn’t
want to leave and I know Id miss it. We headed to my dads brothers house and
went to the market to eat some dessert. I was on facebook for a little while
talking to my sisters. My mum weighed herself and she was 75kg as opposed to
her 80kg! She was very happy. We ate and went to bed around 1.30.
Monday 16th June 2008, Day 21
So at 4.50am, my mum woke me up and I was in the middle of a
dream! I was still extremely tired! The taxi came at 6am, we said our goodbyes
and the taxi meter to the airport was 282 but the taxi man asked for 200.
Everything went smoothly. My arm had some reaction to the seafood dinner we had
last night too. We boarded the plane and I was so tired I wanted to take a nap.
They said they will serve sandwhichs and ice cream which I wanted. So I waited for
it! I watched a few movies. I went to sleep for a bit. Ice cream and sanwhichs
were served which was followed by dinner shortly. The flight arrived back in
London fairly early so it had to go around in a lopp four times before there
was space to land. It was a very good holiday and one I will not forget!
